THE Duke and Duchess of Cambridge plan to take Prince George on a landmark first tour of New Zealand and Australia in April and show him off to the public.

Kate and William will take Prince George on a landmark tour of New Zealand and Australia [PA]

Kensington Palace tonight announced outline details of the long-anticipated three and a half week tour, which is expected to begin in New Zealand in early April.

It will be the Duchess's first official visit to Australia and New Zealand and the first ever official overseas visit for George, who will be around nine months old at the time.

The royal couple will spend between a week and 10 days on official engagements in both countries, beginning in New Zealand. But with rest days and travel, the entire trip will take the best part of a month.

The trip will mark the first ever official overseas visit for George [PA]

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will visit New Zealand and Australia in April 2014. Their Royal Highnesses have been invited to visit by the New Zealand and Australian governments

A Kensington Palace statement

George is unlikely to accompany them on most of their public duties but aides anticipate that there will be occasions in both countries when George will appear before the cameras.

They will make a final decision on whether to take him nearer the time but a senior aide said: "It is anticipated and planned for that he will go."

The tour, which is expected to bring out thousands of Aussies and Kiwis to see two future Kings and a future Queen Consort, will mirror William's first foreign tour at the same age in March and April 1983 when his parents amused him on a rug in the grounds of Government House in Auckland for the cameras and similarly showed him off in Australia.

Princess Diana, who refused to go without him, had to ask special permission from the Queen to take her infant son on the six-week tour when he became the first royal baby to accompany his parents on an official overseas visit.

She also had to override concern about the heir to the throne and the second in line travelling together on a plane in case it crashed.

Prince Charles and Princess Diana with a young William in New Zealand in 1983 [PA]

George, who is almost five months old, will similarly be allowed to fly with his parents and has already undertaken at least one internal flight in Britain when they went up to Balmoral in the autumn.

William and Kate, both 31, have said they intend to take George but will wait to make a final decision nearer the time, depending on his health and what they think is best for him. Aides, however, think it highly unlikely that they will leave their child at home, unlike previous generations of royals who were often absent for months.

In a brief statement, Kensington Palace said: "The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will visit New Zealand and Australia in April 2014.

"Their Royal Highnesses have been invited to visit by the New Zealand and Australian governments.

"Further details on the exact dates and itinerary will be issued in due course."

William last visited Australia and New Zealand in March 2011, when he toured disaster-hit regions including the Christchurch earthquake zone and flood-damaged areas of Queensland and Victoria.

In January 2010 he also made official visits to both countries. In July 2005 he went to New Zealand on his first solo tour, a semi-private one. He went primarily to follow the British Lions but also undertook several royal engagements.

William, Charles and Diana in the grounds of Government House in Auckland [PA]